


hourglass

by oryx



Category: Kamen Rider Den-O
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 10:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2306729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oryx/pseuds/oryx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three snapshots from an alternate time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	hourglass

Among the dozens of women that frequent the shop, there are also a handful of admirably stalwart men. Some of them come to unsuccessfully flirt, while a select few come for love of the coffee itself, sitting in awkward solitude among the flowers and the high-pitched chatter. One of the latter, Ryoutarou can’t help but notice, has been watching Airi out of the corner of his eye as of late. He turns bright red whenever she speaks to him, and always stammers a bit when he places his order.

 

 _I don’t like him_ , Ryuutaros mutters one afternoon, as the customer in question walks in through the door, seating himself at his usual table in the corner.

 

 _Why’s that?_ Ryoutarou asks.

 

_He looks like he wants to take nee-chan away from us. But I guess it doesn’t matter, right? ‘Cause he seems super weak and boring. He’s got no chance, N-O chance at all! He’s not like **that guy**._

 

_…‘That guy’? Who do you mean?_

 

Ryuutaros goes quiet, then, ‘hmm’ing softly to himself, and Ryoutarou can almost feel his contemplative frown.

 

 _Dunno,_ he says finally. _Just… that guy! You know._

 

 _Oi, the kid’s spouting nonsense again,_ Momotaros cuts in.

 

_Now, now, senpai. That’s rather rich, coming from an idiot who’s always rambling on about ‘climax’ this and ‘climax’ that._

_Sh-shut the hell up, you perverted turtle! Don’t make me come over there and…_

 

Ryoutarou smiles to himself, allowing their voices to fade into the background, and hurries to deliver a tray of cappuccinos to table number five.

 

.

 

.

 

He goes to the library to search for a few things in particular – picture books for Ryuutaros, a recipe collection for Deneb, an old samurai film for Kintaros – but returns with something extra: a book about stars. He doesn’t remember why he picked it up, only that it had seemed natural at the time. Natural and _right_ , somehow, to take it off the shelf and tuck it under his arm.

 

“Oh, Ryou-chan,” Airi says, peering over the counter at the pile of books. “I never knew you liked astronomy.”

 

“Ah, no, I… I guess I was just curious?” He smiles weakly. “Since some stars are supposed to be lucky and all… Maybe some of that luck could rub off on me.”

 

Airi laughs. “Look,” she says, and reaches over to touch the book’s star-speckled cover. “It’s the Big Dipper.” She traces the shape of the constellation with the tip of her finger. “The brightest star, there in the middle… It’s called Epsilon.”

 

Ryoutarou stares at her. “Nee-san, how… How do you know all that?”

 

She blinks at him; tilts her head to the side and taps her chin thoughtfully. He could swear he sees her serene smile falter for a brief, almost-imperceptible moment before it settles back into place.

 

“Well,” she says slowly. “I’m not quite sure. Maybe I saw a program on television about it?”

 

She shrugs, nonchalant, and returns to working on her latest flower arrangement, which he can’t help but notice is rather overwhelmingly white.

 

.

 

.

 

 _Uh… Deneb?_ Ryoutarou thinks. _Sorry to pry, but… why are you hiding those mushrooms behind your back?_

 

Deneb freezes in the middle of the produce section.

 

“Y-you can see that?” he gasps out loud, and the middle-aged woman near the apple display raises an eyebrow at him. He bows to her nervously and hurries back towards the vegetables.

 

 _My sincere apologies, Ryoutarou,_ he says, inwardly this time. _I know how much you dislike shiitake, but they are just so good for you… I have been trying to prepare more nutritious meals lately, you know. I thought if I mixed them into another dish, perhaps you wouldn’t notice…_

_But… I don’t dislike shiitake?_ Ryoutarou thinks, and imagines his expression would be a bewildered one (if he were currently in control of his own body).

 

Deneb frowns. _Really? I… I could have sworn… Perhaps I am mixing you up with someone else. Kame-san? Or Ryuuta-kun?_

_Ah… Yeah, maybe,_ Ryoutarou thinks, without much confidence. The only food he’s ever seen the Imagin turn down was Hana’s cooking, and that had little to do with picky eating. But he supposes he doesn’t know _everything_ about their tastes…

 

Deneb buys the mushrooms, in the end. He cooks them into a soup rich with onion and carrot and ginger, and hovers around the tables as they eat.

 

“Great as always, Odebu,” Momotaros exclaims, slapping Deneb on the back just a little too forcefully.

 

“Indeed,” Kintaros says with a nod. “We are lucky to have someone with such culinary strength.”

 

“O-oh no, you are too kind,” Deneb says, bowing to them repeatedly, but all the same he sounds somehow disappointed, as if he had been waiting and hoping for a far different response.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

_(“Seems like it’s been a while since I saw you, Yuuto.”)_


End file.
